My Best Christmas

My best Christmas ever was also one of the most challenging for my parents.  My dad had bought some property in Maryland and had cleared trees and underbrush to build us a house.  While the house was in progress, he moved our 45 ft. trailer onto the lot in order to save the cost of the lot rent in the trailer park.  Without a washer or dryer, my mother had to boil our clothes outdoors in order to get them clean.  My three brothers and I collected “pine knots” to burn under the #3 washtub.  Mother hung the clothes on a line outdoors in order to dry them.  In the fall of ‘65, my dad was laid off work in Baltimore.  He had another job lined up, but it didn’t pay near as much as the big aircraft factory that he had been working at.  So, he took on a second job.  My mother and us four boys would meet him with the car and supper when he arrived in the carpool from his day job.  He would eat supper in the car and talk to all of us over his sandwich.  Then he would drive to the part-time job and we would walk home.  Dad would come home well after we were all asleep.  I remember my dad taking me aside that November day and saying, “Gerald, we aren’t going to have much of a Christmas this year.  Things are tight, but we will make it just fine.”  And then came the surprise.  He said, “I need you to help me this year with a Santa present.”  I was thrilled and felt so grown-up.  My dad had found a sturdy tricycle for my youngest brother that needed some TLC.  I painted it green, my brother’s favorite color, keeping it a surprise.  I painted his name on the seat in white.  I was so excited to see my little brother’s face as he got his tricycle from Santa that Christmas.  Jesus said it best in Acts 20:35, “… It is more blessed to give than to receive.”